How Winter Lost It's Way on hiatus
by blacksniiper
Summary: Time has changed. Jack Frost is not the Guardian you thought him to be. Pitch has changed, and is not full of malice. Things may be different from how you remember, but will it have a happy ending? Do those truly exist..?
1. 1 - Ice Cold

**_If you've opened this story, thank you for choosing to read this. This is probably going to be a fic that i will work on more, but be prepared for constant procrastination lol. Leave reviews!_**

•๑•

 ** _There are different realities across the galaxy. Sometimes, one reality is completely different from the others… Sometimes, what you saw happen did not happen the way you knew._**

•๑•

On a cold, winter day, all the way up into the North Pole, sat Santa's workshop of wonder and joy.

Nicholas Saint North sat in his workshop, singing and carving small models out of never melting ice, this time creating a small sailboat. He allowed it to slide off a roller-coaster-like slide made of ice, and fly around his workshop as though it sailed on water. He laughed to himself, proud of the creation, at least… Until one of his Yetis slammed open the door, ruining the moment.

The two comically gasped in fear and shock, watching the broken ice tumble to the ground. North pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing in exasperation. "How many time have I told you to knock?!" He asked, definitely irritated.

The Yeti cried something in gibberish, and that got his attention. "What? The Globe?" North rushed out of the small workshop, the Yeti in hot pursuit. The large man reached the Globe room, feeling his heart sink as he realized something was wrong.

The lights, each indicating the belief of a child, began to slowly disappear one by one.

A strong gust of wind blew in from the windows in all directions, and a blanket of ice covered the large Globe. When the wind died down, the Guardian of Wonder stepped closer, hoping to understand what had happened. But then the ice exploded, flying off the globe in little pieces. North gasped, shielding his face with his arms as the Yetis did the same.

Once the commotion stopped, North looked down at his feet, shards of beautiful but deadly pieces of Ice everywhere. He picked up one, larger of the others, inspecting it closely.

A delicate fern pattern.

"It… Can't be…" North muttered to himself. He turned and snapped his fingers. "Dingle!" He called out to his elves. Four of them stood in a row, pointing stupidly at themselves thinking they were the ones called, then confusedly looking at each other. "Make preparations, we are going to have company."

The Guardian of Wonder flicked on the switch to call the other guardians, the beautiful northern lights spreading out in three, calling the Guardians of Childhood.

At this moment, Sandman was gracefully spreading his Dream Sand, the golden sand glowing in the darkness of the night with comfort and love, imagination and joy. At this moment, he happened to glance up by chance. When he realized that the northern lights had shone overhead, he frowned, wondering what had happened.

With that, he stopped his Guardian duties and transformed his golden sand cloud into an airplane, creating goggles for himself as he flew off.

Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy, was ordering her little fairies around, collecting teeth from children all around the world. "Oh! It's Jenny Allister's first tooth! Look how cute it is!" She gushed, holding a small incisor. "And look at how Max Smith flossed!"

A tiny tooth fairy flew over to it's mother, speaking rapidly. "What?" Tooth asked, confused. She looked up, finally noticing the aurora, and almost immediately, flew off towards the north pole.

The last to show up was none other than E. Aster Bunnymund. His tunnel ended outside of the workshop, somehow. It was so cold, he felt like his fur was going to freeze and fall off. He couldn't feel his feet.

Once they all were together, Aster still holding a paintbrush and egg, North cleared his throat. "Very deep apologies for pulling you all away from your duties…" He began. "Yeah mate, I still have 2000 eggs to finish." The Easter rabbit said, annoyed. North disregarded the retort and continued.

"I'm afraid I have bad news." The Guardian of Wonder said, serious. The rabbit's ears perked up, Sandman waiting silently for North to continue, while Tooth's wings buzzed nervously.

"Earlier, someone came in and froze my globe." North said, turning to look at the large, spinning orb in the centre of the entire building.

Aster's eyes narrowed slightly. "Did the ice have fern patterns on 'em?" He asked, slowly, suspicion growing. The large man nodded sadly. "It is Jack Frost." He said, solemnly. Toothiana gasped in surprised, as Sandy looked deeply troubled. "Jack Frost? The one with the perfect white teeth?" The Tooth Fairy asked, her eyes wide in shock. Aster scowled darkly, his fists clenching, nearly breaking the egg. "I knew he would change one day." He said, sourly. Sandy looked down to the floor.

"W… what do we do..?" Tooth asked, her wings fluttering nervously.

"Why don't we just put 'im down." The Easter rabbit said, putting his egg in his front pouch.

"No, we must understand what is happening!" North said, stubbornly.

As the three argued, Sandy looked up to the sky, seeing the moon shining brightly. The small man tried to get their attention, but unfortunately they kept bickering over him. He frowned, and looked down at the elf next to him, with a golden bell on it's hat. The golden man grabbed the tiny creature, shaking it like a rag doll, the bell ringing loudly.

The three turned around to look, surprised. Sandman dropped the elf, pointing up at the moon, irritated, a golden image of a crescent moon above his head.

"Ah! Man in Moon!" North chuckled. "Why didn't you say something, Sandy?"

Sandman glared, sand spewing out of his ears angrily.

"Manny! Old friend! It has been long time! What is the problem?" He asked to the moon. The lights of the moon shone brightly, into the room with the Guardians. The swirling of dust was visible like snow in the night.

"Is he choosing a new guardian?" Tooth asked, curiously flying around the light. Sandman stepped closer, the sign of a four leaf clover appearing on his head.

"Leprechaun?" North repeated, aloud. "No no, please don't be the groundhog…" Aster mumbled to himself.

Instead of either the two, a shadowy symbol of two swords crossed together to make an X shape appeared in the middle of the beam of light. The four guardians were confused, before Tooth let out a small cry of surprise. "Pitch! He means Pitch!"

North, Aster and Sandy all looked at her in shock. "Is it really Pitch?" North asked, a little fearful. Aster scowled. "Why would the Man in the Moon mention Pitch? He's obviously not suited to be a guardian."

Sandy shook his head, and spelled out the word "Alliance" above his head. The guardians looked at each other, all feeling indifferent. A soft voice spoke to them, like a whisper of the wind or the singing voice of a nymph, or the gravelly growl of a troll, all mixed together in one harmonious voice.

 _"Guardians_

The guardians looked up to the moon. Symbols flashing at a fast pace, all to make one sentence. Pitch. Redemption. Alliance. Aster looked down at the floor, his scowl deepening. "Pitch is the Bogeyman, he scares children, not protect them!" He protested.

Another whisper, this time a full sentence. " _Without Pitch, there is no belief. Without belief, all is darkness."_

The Guardians had nothing to say to that. The Man in the Moon was right, without Pitch, the children had nobody to believe in for protection. Without belief, all hope and wonder is erased from existence.

•๑•

Pitch Black stayed down in his lair, thinking of ways to scare the young children once more. His main goal was to scare little children into obedience, but he wasn't one for hurting anyone so badly that they'd really begin to cry. It's not like he can control what people thought.

He slowly wandered through the shadows, in the streets of Burgess. He watched as the children laughed, running around in the snow and attacking each other playfully. He did not detest them, but he did not particularly love them either.

He noticed a young boy playing with his friends in the yard of his home. He did not know why he noticed this particular boy, but he headed over to watch nonetheless.

"Jamie! That's not fair!" A girl cried after the boy, now known as Jamie, had thrown a snowball at her head. Eventually, the children got into a snowball fight, laughing in joy.

Pitch left them at that. They looked like they were having fun.

•๑•

It was dark now. Pitch was prepared to give small scares to children. He wandered the streets, silently looking over his surroundings. Something was off today.

And suddenly, something moved to his left. He quickly turned around, growing suspicious. "Looking for something, mate?" A heavy accented voice asked, behind him. Pitch sighed.

"Bunny! How nice of you to visit. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked, sarcastically, turning to face the pooka. Aster grinned. "Oh, not me. These guys. Grab him, boys."

The collar of his coat was grabbed. Pitch looked to his sides and noticed two large yetis. One of them pulled out a spherical snow globe, tossing it to the ground, creating a portal to the North Pole.

"Oh dear." He muttered under his breath, before the yetis dragged him into the glowing portal. Meanwhile, Aster laughed before opening his tunnels, vanishing, only a pink flower remaining.

•๑•

He was tossed onto the floor, immediately after arrival. Pitch was definitely irritated from being pulled away from his nightly duties. He scowled at the man in front of him, standing up and brushing off his clothes. "Good evening, North." He said, dryly. The spirit of Christmas laughed heartily before strongly patting him on the shoulder, earning a grunt from the other man.

"What do you want?" He asked. The guardians were getting on his last nerve.

"We want… No, we need your help." North finally said, becoming much more serious. A beat. Then…

Pitch began to laugh. "You? Need _my_ help?" He scowled. "Don't make me laugh. Since when did you, the great Guardians of Childhood, need my help?"

The Guardians all looked at each other helplessly. Pitch was taken aback for a moment. "You're actually serious?" He asked, definitely surprised. The spirit of Christmas sighed.

"Yes. We do unfortunately." He said, tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Pitch straightened his back, folding his arms. "Well? What is it?" He asked. The other four looked a bit surprised before replying.

"It's Jack Frost." Tooth replied, nervously. Pitch rose an eyebrow. "Jack Frost? What has he done this time that's so bad that you need my help?"

"It isn't what he's done, it's what he is beginning to start." North gestured to the rotating globe, the lights still going out, even as they speak. They weren't disappearing as fast, but they were still diminishing.

"So… The children stopped believing in you." Pitch said, a little surprised, even if he didn't show it.

"Well, no, but they will soon… And if they do, we don't know what will happen!" Tooth said, a little frantic. Pitch sighed.

A tiny tooth fairy flew in through the window and up to her Queen, chittering in gibberish. Tooth gasped, pressing a delicate hand to her mouth. "Something's happening at the palace…!" She said, in pure shock. "I-I have to go!" The Tooth Fairy darted away, leaving the other Guardians (and Pitch) behind, equally as shocked.

"We must go and help…" The Easter Rabbit mumbled, before vanishing into a hole. North nodded in agreement.

"Yes- to the sleigh!" He bellowed, heading off to where he kept the magical sleigh. Pitch snorted. "How about no." He said as he sank into the shadows, heading to the Tooth Palace. Sandy just shrugged at North's deflated look and made symbols that he would ride in the sleigh with him, to the man's delight.

•๑•

Pitch was the first to reach the castle, after Tooth. When he stepped out of the shadows, he was in shock. The once beautiful golden castle that floated in the ethereal valley, was encased in ice. He looked around him, and saw Toothiana flying around, agitated. Her tooth fairies were gone.

At this moment, North, Aster and Sandman arrived at the now frozen palace. It felt cold. The sleigh touched the ground as the Sand fairy and North stepped out, Aster popping up from the ground. "Crikey, this is…" The pooka was speechless, as was everyone else.

Laughter rang from the top of the castle, and all five of their heads shot up. Jack Frost, the boy of winter, sitting down on the top level of the castle, his feet dangling in the air as he kicked them around childishly.

"You know, I was getting bored here." He said, as if nothing was wrong. "You guys sure took a long time getting here!" Jack slipped off the edge of the floating layer, softly allowing himself to float downward to the next.

"Frost…" Aster growled, his grip on his wooden boomerangs tightening. "I'm going to beat you to a pulp!" Jack just laughed at this statement.

"Aw, Bunny, are you still mad about '89?" He asked, casually leaning against a pillar. The pooka scowled darkly.

Tooth looked up at the boy, angry but sad. "Give me back my fairies!" She screamed, her voice cracking as tears made their way to her eyes.

"Or what?" Jack's smile left his face for a brief moment. "Trust me, Toothy, they're better somewhere else than here." He said, darkly. Tooth shrank back, a sudden feeling of dread crawling down her back.

Sandman had a look of disapproval, much like a that of a disapproving parent when their child did something wrong. Jack sighed, shaking his head. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Sandy." He said, an edge of sadness hinted in his voice.

Pitch noticed how much the winter spirit's appearance changed. His hair, always known to be white like snow, was now black at the tips, like a calligraphy brush dipped in jet black ink. His previously blue hoodie with white frost around the edges, had black cracks instead. His radiant blue eyes were now…. duller. Gray. Like storm clouds covering the bright, beautiful blue sky. Even his smile seemed less bright than before.

"Why are you doing this?" Tooth asked, again, softer, but loud enough for them all to hear.

"Why? Because I haven't been believed in, for three hundred years. I asked for acceptance from all of you, but did I receive it?" Jack didn't finish his sentence. A blast of cold air and a flurry of snowflakes, he vanished.

"No, I didn't." The voice came from behind. They whirled around, facing the boy. He had his hands behind his back, gripping the staff like an innocent child. He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's Pitch. Wow, am I in _that_ much trouble?" He asked, jokingly. "Ah, but the Man in the Moon _did_ tell you to have him help you, right?"

North furrowed his brows. "Now, how would you know about that, Jack?" He asked, suspiciously.

"I hear things." Jack said, as he vanished behind the pillar.

He reappeared again on the other side. Tooth narrowed her eyes. "Give me back my fairies, Jack!" She lunged towards him, her sword in hand. Jack just smiled, not moving at all. As the tooth fairy neared, a huge, crystalline dragon appeared from underneath, curling around it's master. It opened it's large, deadly jaws and roared at the fairy, whom had back away in fear.

The Guardians, and Pitch, pulled back. Jack had powers, powers nobody had seen before. It wasn't that they were new, in fact, they had been there all along. His three hundred years of solitude had forced him to learn about his powers, to finally use them to their full capacity.

The dragon shrank down, and Jack gently patted it's claw. "Aw, Icy, no need to be so intimidating." He said, soothingly. The dragon rested its jaws on the platform.

"Ah, looks like me taking the tiny tooth fairies are finally doing it's work." The boy looked around him, seeing as the Palace finally began to disintegrate. "Children all around the world are finally seeing that the tooth fairy didn't come for their teeth."

Tooth's eyes widened as she sank to her knees. "They don't… They don't believe in me anymore…" Her voice cracked. Aster growled, ready to lunge at the winter spirit, but he wasn't fast enough. Jack laughed, before vanishing for good this time, his dragon following suit.

"Jack Frost!" Aster yelled after the retreating form of the ice beast, the boy's cold laughter echoing.

•๑•

The Guardians were all silent when they made their way to the grove, the beautiful mural of the Tooth Fairy was the only thing that didn't disintegrate like the Palace.

"Now what do you all plan to do?" Pitch spoke up, standing at the edge of the clear water. Tooth had flown up to her mural, and then looked back at the Nightmare King.

"I… I don't know…" She sighed, deeply.

"I see that he's taken some teeth." Pitch said, looking back to the now imperfect castle.

"Yes, he has.." Tooth looked back at the man, teary eyed. "He's taken memories of certain children. I don't know why, but I have to find out." She said, shaking her head.

"That's right… The teeth hold the childhood memories of children, don't they." Pitch frowned. What was Jack planning?

"Oh, you should've seen Bunny before he became Easter spirit!" North laughed from the shore. The pooka frowned. "North, shut up."

And that was when the mural began to disintegrate. "Oh… Oh no…. We're too late to…" Tooth was close to tears. Pitch scowled at the mural, vanishing. What was this supposed to be? To give up? They were the Guardians of Childhood. And they gave up this easily?

"No! Not too late!" They all looked over at North, who stood, determined. "We can still save the belief!"

Tooth looked at him quizzically. "But how? There are thousands of children all around the world…"

Aster scoffed. "I have to make eggs for thousands of children every Easter, sheila." He said, a smug smile on his face.

"And I have to create presents for every child on Christmas." North added. Sandman shrugged, smiled, and made a series of pictures about his head showing he'd help. A smile made it's way to the Fairy's face.

"Thank you…. And Pitch, will you help me too?" It took the Nightmare King a few moments to respond.

"... Sure."

North cackled. "Let us begin!"

•๑•

The ice dragon smoothly glided across the winds, waiting for it's master to come. Jack reappeared on the top of the dragon, after they were far, far away from the Palace. He sighed, pulling his hood over his hair. "I'm sorry." He whispered, looking back at the direction in which he came.


	2. 2 - The Sun

**Nothing is in the past, the present, or the future. Because time is always ticking. Forever, like a lake, or a river, or even an ocean, that's been here since the beginning of our earth.**

•๑•

The Guardians and Pitch all raced to get the teeth, somehow turning this into a competition. Although Pitch wouldn't admit it, but he was… Enjoying himself.

The excitement was overwhelming. Pitch teleporting himself to different houses, nearly getting clobbered by the idiot rabbit in the process, and Tooth nearly smashed into a billboard during their time in China.

"How long have you been hiding in your palace?" Pitch asked, appearing next to the fairy.

"Ohh, 400 years give or take!" The Tooth fairy giggled excitedly. "I've forgotten how fun it is to be out on the field!"

Pitch just raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, the crew continuing to collect teeth.

"You did leave gifts, right?" Tooth asked, after they all held up bags of teeth. The boys all looked at each other before running off to give presents to the children.

•๑•

Jack sighed deeply, leaning on , watching the Guardians have their fun. They were… enjoying this. No, no he had to stop this, before the belief came back, before she-

A tiny sneeze came from behind him. Jack whirled around, only to be met face to face with a tiny tooth fairy. "Wh- what!? Where did you come from? I thought I had you all in…" Jack was confused, flustered even. The little tooth fairy frowned. She said something in her own language, one that nobody would be able to understand.

Except somehow, Jack seemed to know what she meant. _'Why are you doing this?'_ She had asked.

•๑•

Sandman had gone a bit further away from the other guardians. He spread his dream sand around during the excitement, allowing the children to have good dreams.

He heard a fellow land on a light pole behind him. A blast of cold air, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He whirled around, ending up face to face with Jack Frost.

The boy smiled, almost sheepish. "Hi Sandy." He said, softly. His hoodie seemed to be grayer. The Sandman held his ground. Instead of attacking, Jack held out a neatly folded blue hoodie in his hands.

"I know I shouldn't be asking this, I don't deserve it…" The boy sighed. "But… You're the only one I trust right now."

Sandman's grip on the whips faltered. The only one he trusted? What does he mean? "I… I know you can't trust me, and I understand. But I'm risking…. Some people's lives right now." Jack said, quietly, holding out the hoodie.

"I need to ask you a favor." The boy of winter said.

•๑•

"You're… Santa Claus? And the Easter Bunny? Tooth Fairy? And- And the Sandman!" The little boy exclaimed, both shocked and excited. Sandman just smiled and waved. Then the flashlight beam made its way to Pitch's face, whom in turn squinted and held his hand up to protect his eyes.

"... The Bogeyman?" The little boy asked. The Guardians stared at Pitch in disbelief.

"What?" Pitch asked. "It's not like fear is nonexistent." He scowled, crossing his arms.

And suddenly, a blast of cold air, a rush of snowflakes past the window. The little boy's head shot up. "Is that… Jack Frost?" He whispered, softly. The Guardians all looked surprised for a moment, shocked that the little boy would know about him.

"Is he here? My mom always talks about him! She says he doesn't exist, but I think otherwise!" He was excited, and bounded over to the window. He peeked out, but was unable to see anything but frost. He frowned. "I just missed him.." The boy sighed.

North looked down to Sandman. "Sandy, could you put him to sleep for now?" He asked, quietly. The little golden man nodded, creating a ball of dream sand, and popping it on the boy's head. Almost immediately, the boy fell asleep, and into the arms of Sandman.

After making sure the child was safe in bed, the Guardians and Pitch made their way to the streets, looking for the Boy of Winter.

•๑•

Jack's plans were going well. They were perfect, undisturbed. Now he just needed to-

"Hey Frost." A thick australian accent called from behind. Jack whirled around, nearly slipping off the top of the light pole he stood on. Down below, the Pooka stared up at him, his arms crossed.

"Oh! Hi Bunny!" Jack laughed, nervously. "What's up?"

Aster scowled deeply. "What's up is you, get down here you little-"

He was interrupted by a deep growling, and turned around to see another one of Jack's ice creations, this time an entire pack of wolves, all seemingly modelled after ancient wild dogs, their head with noticeable long fangs and powerful chest, claws and a strong jaw.

Aster's ears shot up, alarmed, finally noticing the creature.

The frost boy just chuckled quietly, finding this amusing. "You know, I really don't understand why you, a powerful kangaroo, could be so afraid of a little thing like that." He laughed.

The pooka glared. "You called me a what?" He asked, though he had heard it clearly. "I swear I'll beat you to a pulp you little-" The ice wolves growled, inching closer to the pooka, as though warning him not to even think about touching Jack.

"What did you say? I couldn't hear you." Jack mocked, then laughed.

A gentle pat on his shoulder. Jack turned his head, only to be greeted by the frowning face of the dream fairy, Sandman. The boy shrieked, launching himself a few feet off the pole, hovering there.

"H-Hi Sandy!" He laughed, nervously. The little golden man frowned, his eyes scanning Jack's own face. There was no real shred of fear, no real shred of malice. He wanted him to tell them, to tell the guardians- and Pitch- about this. They could help….

Jack seemed to get where the Sandman was going with his gestures, because he just smiled, before jetting into the sky, the pack of wolves following on clouds of hovering snow, the snowflakes blasting in the Guardian's faces.

"Jack!" Aster yelled, practically howling like a dog.

But Jack's heart was beating hard and fast, forgetting that it lay at the bottom of the Lake of Burgess, frozen and dead. But what could he do? This isn't what he wanted.

•๑•

This was definitely not what he was trying for. It was at times like this he wished he had the power of Father Time, so he could go back, and change it all before it was too late. But of course-- changing time was taboo, and what you changed would come back and bite you in the arse ten times worse.

Landing on the top of the bell tower, sighing heavily, Jack scanned his eyes over the city, watching as the guardians and Pitch battled with his ice creatures. What else should he do? It wasn't like he enjoyed this, no, he did not. But it was the only choice… the only path he could go down.

Maybe he should have some fun with them. At least for awhile-- until he needed to do some things that were… unfavorable to them.

•๑•

 _"Jack, you have to help me." He had asked, his cream colored ears twitching nervously. The winter spirit was taken aback. Was this a joke? Peter Rabbit never asked for help, much less from him._

 _The spirit of spring looked around him nervously, the whiskers on his nose twitching ever so slightly._

 _"Please, Jack, if you don't I-I don't know what I can do!" The rabbit wailed, pulling his long ears over his eyes. Jack sighed and nodded._

 _"Alright Peter, what happened?"_

•๑•

First there was a sharp pinch on his cheek. Then… water. It wasn't raining. And this "water" didn't smell like water. It smelled… it smelled metallic.

It took Jack a few moments to realize that North had somehow cut him with one of his swords. His eyes, wide, as were the Christmas Spirit's own.

He's hurt a child, someone who didn't know the truth of the world, someone who had died too early.

… But that was someone else. This was Jack Frost, and he was the enemy. There was no need to feel remorse, was there?

And the fight went on. It was too difficult, for Jack, for them. Pitch wondered, what was the reason behind this? The King of fear didn't watch what came next-- when Jack finally let go.

•๑•

A pile of golden sand remained where he had stood just moments before. There are times when people are pushed to their limits, and finally explode with anger, or sadness… all that emotion, bottled up inside a fragile thing.

Many people have the ability to hold it inside, and many cannot, and our friend, Jack Frost, was no exception.

The silence was deafening, all the spirits staring at each other in shock, including Jack himself. What was this? Had he really gone so insane, that his ability to control the snow malfunctioned? That he had…

… That he had killed Sandman?

Before anyone could say anything, a blast of cold air, and the boy of winter had vanished from their sight.

"Did he… could he have just…" Tooth could barely form her sentences, as she stood near the pile of golden sand, as she began to quietly cry.

Aster was fuming, angry at the winter spirit for this, that he was capable of… murder. North's mind was a mix of the two of them, but mostly confused.

Why did this happen? What in the name of the Moon had happened to force events like this to happen?

Pitch on the other hand was just as distraught, and just as confused. His long time rival with dream sand had suddenly died at the hands of… what, just a 300 year old spirit?

How was this possible? Pitch was angry, but not angry at Jack, at least, not entirely. He was angry at the fact that Sandman lost, and what, to a little snowstorm? He could do better than this.

Out of nowhere, a tiny little creature with two legs darted out from behind a lamppost, in its hands, a bottle that was larger than its head.

It looked like a tiny elf, but with normal human-like body proportions, save for the ginormous head it had with it's pointy ears and bell covered hat. It ran in a funny way, one might say it even had two left feet.

The tiny creature ran up to the pile of sand, and sunk it's bottle straight into it, but only taking one-third of how much could fill in the bottle. And then off it went.

"Hey! Wait! That little bugger has-!" Aster bolted after the creature, obviously much faster.

However, the creature tripped over its own two feet, falling flat on its face, the bottle bouncing off and rolling into a little hole that wasn't there before. The tiny creature squealed, but suddenly began to melt.

The spirits realized that it was one of Jack's creations, and watched helplessly as Aster's paws only missed the bottle by inches, as it dropped down the hole, never to be seen again.

•๑•

"By the stars and the moon, Jack, imagine if master Bunnymund had seen me!" The cream colored rabbit exclaimed, hopping out of his hole. Peter shook his head to get rid of the dirt that collected itself on his hair, and reverted back to his sort if human form.

"I'm sorry, Peter, but the little popsicle wouldn't have been able to get us the bottle If you hadn't done this for me." Jack sighed.

Peter nodded, the rabbit handing the bottle over to the spirit. "You're right, my apologies." He replies. "Now, what is this sand for? You know how difficult it can be to control dream sand."

But Jack just simply smiled. "I'm not going to control it." He replied, simply tucking the bottle of glowing sand inside his pocket.

The rabbit furrowed his brows, but didn't push the issue. "Alright, if you say so. But be quick, for Mother Sun is going to realize soon." He warned, hopping into a hole.

Jack sighed, looking down at his feet. "I know.." He whispered to himself. "I know."


	3. 3 - Blue

_**Everything hurts. His bare fingers and toes, frostbitten, and**_

 _ **As he lay there, unmoving, breathing shallow, he wondered: How did he get here?**_

•๑•

The ceremony was quiet, a soft humming sound from the glowing pedestal that once held the shining circle of the Sandman, a silhouette of the little man... bringing all of them near tears.

Aster balled his paws into rock-solid fists, angry, while Toothiana stared down at her feet, her large eyes brimming with tears.

North… North was conflicted.

He knew Jack wasn't the kind of person to hurt someone, much less kill them, without a good reason.

Jack was a boy, a child who hadn't had the chance to find love, who hadn't truly grown up the way he should have. So why was he doing this?

The guardians needed to get down to the bottom of this- something was wrong.

•๑•

 _ **Her black dress trailed behind her as she made her way to the glass dome. It was sealed inside, the Darkness. The Darkness she needed to regain her power again, to regain… control.**_

•๑•

"Jack needs to be put down." Aster said, with utmost certainty. He spoke of Jack like he was a wild animal.

"But Aster! What if he didn't mean to?" Toothiana asked, agitated, her wings fluttering every so often. The Guardians were discussing what to do, with Jack, and with dreams. Obviously, Pitch wouldn't be able to give good dreams to children, only nightmares and inducing fear.

"He killed our friend, a guardian of childhood, he cannot be running around any longer!" The Pooka exclaims, furious. "You saw what he did! What he can do! He's dangerous! To us and himself."

"Bunny, maybe putting him down is too harsh. Maybe if we find other way to lock him out-" North tried to reason with the angry rabbit.

"So what? So he can escape and start again? No, we are going t-"

"Alright, everyone shut up."

Heads turned towards the man in black, who had been silent this entire time. "You are the Guardians of Childhood, and you don't even know how to come to a proper conclusion?" He asks, folding his arms. He was disappointed.

Aster scowls at him. "You ain't even one of us." He says. "Mim just asked you to help us. You really think you have a say in this?"

Pitch sighed, shaking his head. "I have a choice to leave, don't I?" He scoffs, glaring at the taller creature. "But I haven't. Why? Because I know all of you. You are the Guardians of Childhood, you always find a way to defeat me, and look!" The Boogeyman gestures to himself. "I am- well was- coexisting with Sandman. We had no... immediate problems."

They were all silent, having no idea how to respond.

Funny, for them to be given a pep talk by Pitch of all people, the man they fought against four hundred years ago.

But he was right. They needed to toughen up, and figure out what was going on.

North raises his head from the floor, his wondrous blue eyes shining like a curious child, excited for his Christmas present. "Perhaps we should take a visit to Sandy's home."

•๑•

Jack paced around in his room, muttering to himself.

The tiny snow globe he kept on the window sparkled dully. Inside it, was a snowman. It had a red scarf and a top hat that had a red ribbon around it. Jack looked over to it, sighing.

This had been a gift- a gift from North just 40 years ago. He wished they could go back, back to the time when they were at least acquainted well enough to not have petty arguments.

The spirit chuckles dryly to himself before he hears a quiet knock on his door.

He turns around, his crystal eyes lighting up in worry and confusion, but relaxed when he saw who it was.

"Shou! Hey." He says, smiling a little bit at a fellow spirit.

The girl leans against his door frame, folding her arms and smiling back, though strained. "Hiya, how you holding up?" She asks, quietly.

"Oh, you know, how I normally hold up." Jack sighs, flopping down in the giant pile of snow he considered his makeshift bed. The wood had started to rot. Peter was fixing it right now.

Shou frowns to his response. "Jack, you know what you're doing is dangerous." She sighs, sitting down next to him, placing down her large, black wooden staff. "If she finds out-"

Jack sits up quickly, cutting her off by covering her mouth with his hands. "No, don't say that. Don't jinx it." He says, his chest pounding.

The girl furrowed her brows and pushes his hands away. "Yeah okay, but what you need to understand is if she _does_ , you could get yourself and the others hurt."

The winter spirit was silent, staring at his feet. She was right, and he knew that. "... But I need to… fix the problem. If I don't, thousands of children will be hurt! Shou, you understand why I have to do this!" His blue eyes looked into her violet ones, and she sighs again.

"I know. Those children… If their belief is this powerful, she will…"

•๑•

 _ **"My plan is to instill belief." She had said, the woman with the long silver hair.**_

 _ **Jack blinked, a little interested. "Really?" He asks, quietly, like a shy child answering a teacher's question. The woman smiles radiantly. "Yes, and you, my child, will help me."**_

•๑•

The Island of Sleepy Sands. The star that Sandman had fallen with, becoming his home. Beautiful mermaids and faeries mourned for their lord's passing, many of them not even greeting the Guardians when they had arrived. They were far too sad.

Pitch stepped off the Ship of Dreams, a ship created by the spirit of Imagination, as a gift for the Guardians. She had long disappeared, her whereabouts unknown.

The Boogeyman looked around, in awe, though he would hate to admit it. It was beautiful- everything was made of golden sand. It wasn't gritty, like beach sand, it was smooth and shiny.

As the Guardians made their way to the top of the mountain, Aster sighed. "I miss the little bugger already." He mutters. Everyone else nods along, saying nothing.

Once they reached the top, seeing the large palace-like structure, the home that Sandman stayed in when he didn't have his busy nights to do, they stopped. It was hard for them, to step inside a home that once belonged to a dear friend. A dear friend who was…

"Come on. Sandy wouldn't have wanted us to waste our time like this." Toothiana says, bravely, though the rest could hear the tears that threatened to spill.

They all entered the palace and headed straight to his chambers. Maybe there was something that could solve this mystery, even as a referent.

"Everything's so little." Aster says, a little amused.

"He is a little man." North replies.

Something peaked at Pitch from the corner of his eye. It wasn't the same color as the rest of the room. It was blue.

He made his way over to the corner of the room, and pulled out a blue hoodie, still cold to the touch. It was a very familiar hoodie…

"Isn't that Jack's?" Toothiana asks, softly.

She was right.

It was Jack's blue hoodie.


	4. 4 - Doubt

We are in the dark, since birth, since forever.

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

"Why would Sandy have Jack's hood?" Toothiana wondered aloud, her violet eyes sparkling brightly with curiosity, yet fear.

"Better yet, when did he get it?" Aster adds, just as perplexed. North shakes his head, saying nothing.

"Could they have been conspiring?" Pitch murmurs, a hand on his chin.

Toothiana looks up at him in shock. "No, no impossible!" She cries, her wings fluttering.

"Well no, definitely not, if he got Sandman killed." The Boogeyman continues, deep in thought.

Aster frowns, definitely worried. "But the question still stands- why does he have it?" He asks, pulling everyone's focus towards him. He was right, where and how did he get it?

"It looks like we have a bigger mystery in our hands…" North mumbles, shaking his head.

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

It was a pain, staying in this realm for so long, being unable to leave. Shou knew why LunaSol kept her here, locking her down with cuffs so she couldn't fly. As the Spirit of imagination, she was one of the spirits with most influence in children. The belief for her was already there.

She sighed, curling up on the old wooden bed. It wasn't very comfortable, the mattress was too hard for her liking, and the blankets were thin and cold. She could make her own bed, but using too much power was affecting her energy, because the cuffs the LunaSol put on her would absorb her power.

She could only rely on Jack, forcing the children to not believe.

As she lay on the bed, she heard the door creak open, and sat up quickly. Peter Rabbit squeaked, a little bit surprised. In his hands, a bowl of warm, creamy soup. "Shou, even though you're not exactly human, you still need to eat some stuff. You know, with the… the things." He said, gesturing at the energy absorption cuffs. The more energy consumed, the hungrier the person it was placed on would get.

The girl sighed, relaxing a little, and moved off the creaky bed and shuffled over to the desk on the other side of the room.

Peter headed over and placed the bowl down on the table. Shou created a spoon, the wooden object appearing through a golden, sand like ripple in time. She had just enough energy to create objects smaller than her forearm.

"Thank you, Peter." She said, grateful at the spirit of Spring for making food for her. He smiled. "You're welcome, Shou." The rabbit replied, and turned to leave.

"... Has she found Summer yet?" The girl asked, not looking up from the steaming bowl in front of her, yet not eating. The rabbit froze. "... No, she hasn't." He said, truthfully. Shou chuckled a bit. "That's good. Make sure he doesn't leave his home."

"I will."

The door closed.

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

The Guardians sat around the fire, Aster pacing back and forth, while North, Toothiana and Pitch all sat down on the couch, though Pitch was in the loveseat. They all racked their brains to try and understand the past events, but none of them could come to a conclusion.

"... Any idea?" North asks, breaking the silence. Toothiana shook her head, Aster growled in frustration, and Pitch said nothing, still deep in thought. "Pitch?"

"Do you think we've been looking at this wrong?" He suddenly asked, looking up at the other three. Aster stopped his pacing and frowned. "What do you mean?" Toothiana asked, just as confused.

"I mean, what if Jack isn't doing what we think he is?"

Aster nearly exploded. "How could you say that?! He killed-"  
"Yes he 'killed' Sandman." Pitch sighed. "No, he didn't."

The three Guardians were all dumbfounded. "What?" Aster finally asked, confused.

"The Sandman is alive."

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

Jack held onto his snowglobe, sitting underneath a tree in the forest. Inside, the previously white glitter was now gold. Huddled in the snow, he set the globe on the ground, and removed the glass sphere, the bottom of it hidden with a hole. The gold slipped itself in the tiny house, and Jack pulled out the cap from the bottom.

The golden sand slipped out, and growing larger and larger, forming the shape of the Sandman.

"Hey, Sandy." Jack said, smiling a bit. The Sandman smiled back, but then lightly hit the boy on the forehead. Jack squawked, and rubbed his head. "I know! I know! I'm sorry! But I had to! To protect you!"

Sandman sighed, but nodded, smiling again. A question mark appeared above his head, and then pictures of a tooth, a present, and an egg appeared.

"The Guardians?"

Sandman nodded.

"They're fine… for now. But I haven't told them yet."

Sandman frowned.  
"They still think I've killed you."

A scythe.

"Pitch?"  
The Sandman nodded.

"Well, he'd either figured it out somehow, or he's going to kill me too."

The Sandman was about to ask another question, when a noise startled the both of them. Footsteps, and the quiet, yet chilling cry of a horse.

Jack jumped to his feet and held up the globe again. "She's here! Quick! Sandy you have to get back inside!" He says, quickly. Sandman nodded, and turned into strands of golden sand, slipping back into the globe.

He sighed, but then froze up when he heard a voice behind him.

"What are you doing, Jack?"

Jack spun around on his heel, face to face with a tall, pale woman with long black hair and a long, black dress.

"H-Hi Mother Sun!" He said, nervously.

The woman's facial expression doesn't change, and Jack reluctantly responds. "I just… wanted a break." He said. He was telling part of the truth, just a little white lie. Jack wasn't sure if LunaSol believed him, but she said nothing, and turned around. "Get back to the home." She said, simply, before mounting her horse once more.

"Y-Yes ma'am!" The boy ran off, holding onto the snow globe tightly.

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

Peter could have called for help, but he was too afraid, for if LunaSol had found out…

The spirit of Spring shuddered, imagining the things LunaSol was capable of. But he knew they couldn't do it on their own, no, they needed all the help they could get.

So he made his way to the center of the city, and did something he never thought he'd do.

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

"How could anyone do this?" A woman exclaims, pointing at the water fountain that now had no water. Jamie stood there, unable to say anything. The once beautiful mermaid that was in the center of the fountain was covered with vines, tightly wound around her, forcing no water to come out of the large bowl she held. Before, she looked serene, but now, she looked… sad.

He, too, wondered who would do such a thing, and how. It was spring, yet the vines had done something unexpected. His mother put a hand on his shoulder, and guided him away to the car. "Don't worry too much Jamie, I'm sure they'll remove the vines soon." She assured him, but the boy couldn't help but wonder what was wrong.

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

North was distraught, and so were the others. "First Jack, and now Peter?" Toothiana asks, "What is happening?"

Not even Pitch knew. Although he said "maybe they were looking at this wrong", he wasn't sure if he was right anymore.

"Guys, Easter is coming up. We need to bring back belief." Aster said, determined. They almost forgot, the power of belief that was needed to make sure they had enough strength.

"What are we going to do, then?" Pitch asks. Aster grins. "We're painting eggs." The pooka says, gleefully clapping his paws together. He was like a child, excited for chocolate, or his favorite toy. Pitch chuckled at his joy, and North stood from his seat. "Yes! To the sleigh!" He said, but Aster shook his head.

"No way mate, we're going straight down the rabbit hole."

He hit his foot on the ground, and the ground swallowed them whole.

━━━━━•|⌜๑⌟|•━━━━━

They all landed on the ground in a grassy place, their screams coming to an abrupt stop. Pitch stood up and dusted himself off, mildly irritated at the unexpected fall. Aster laughed, hopping out, and turning to show them where they were. "Welcome to the Warren!" He exclaims, his rock golems standing up and introducing their presence.

"This place is beautiful, Bunny!" Toothiana said, standing up to look around the area. The sunshine filtered through, and the grass was bright green. The air was clear and fresh, a peaceful place to stay in.

Aster smiled, but turned around when he realized something was different. "Wait, there's someone else in here." He said, pulling out his wooden boomerangs in alarm. The others quickly pulled out their own weapons, and the golems turned to their offense mode, spinning their heads around to an angry expression.

After a couple seconds, which felt like an agonizing few hours, a boy walked out from the dark cave, and flopped straight onto his face. He had fluffy white hair and a blue shirt that was too big for him, a staff made of gnarled black wood dropping down next to him, the top of it was curled to look like the moon, and he was bombarded by tiny white eggs with legs.

"... Who's this?" Toothiana asked, a little caught off guard. Pitch sighed, putting down his scythe. "That's William Overseer, spirit of Honor." He said, a little disappointed it wasn't someone he could hit.

William looked up, his green eyes and friendly face smiling at them. "Yep! That's me!" He said. "Can someone please get the eggs off me?"

Aster sighed and whistled. The eggs hopped off the boy, and he stood up to dust himself off and pick up his staff. "Thank you!" He said, smiling brightly. Aster rolled his eyes, but smiled, amused.

"What are you doing here, William?" North asked the boy as he sheathed his blades. William's face lit up as he suddenly remembered why he was here. "Oh! That's right! It's the Seasons!"

The guardians were confused. The Seasons? Did this involve what Peter did to the water fountain in Burgess? "What do you mean?" Toothiana asked.

"They've been missing. What Peter did to the water fountain was a call for help."

They were shocked. A call for help? "How are you so sure?" The fairy asks again, and William's smile disappeared. "Because I was the one who set up every spirit's call for help." He says.

Pitch said nothing this entire time. He knew William, a high ranking general during the Golden Age, a completely different person back then. Yet, his intimidating power was still there. "So what do you propose we do?" He breaks the silence, and now all eyes are on him.

"... I don't know!" William says in a carefree tone. "It's your job as Manny's Guardians!" Aster nearly fell over in surprise. "What!?"

"Now if you'll excuse me! I have to go wake somebody up!" He said, turning to fly off. "Wait!" Toothiana stops him. "Is there anyone else we can ask for help?"

The boy thought for a moment, before smiling. "There's the Personalities, and Ea Summer. They will be able to help."

And then he was gone.


End file.
